haecceity
by microfiber shoelaces
Summary: vicious experiences an alien feeling. a writing exercise for me, not you..but here it is anyways. oneshot.


**author's note: **this story largely involves an original comic i work on periodically. eliandro sakame, the lapis and lian xui, and mr. bodyguard (whose name is elyjah aliciados, by the way) are mine. i wrote this for myself, wondering about what it would be like if my original character eliandro met vicious. i wrote it about a year ago.

for myself and myself alone, so if you dont understand it, that's why.

before you start, it might help to know that eliandro sakame looks a lot like spike.

haecceity : _hek-see'i-tee, n_ (Latin, from _haec_, this) - the aspect of existence on which individuality depends; the hereness and nowness of reality; the sense one gets of being in the present tense, the pure experience of a single moment in time.

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**Haecceity.**

by microfibershoelaces

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Vicious lightly fingers the band-aid on his right cheek, thinking nothing.

Annie must know that he will take it off as soon as he leaves the store, but for now he humors her and crumples the sanitized paper cover between slightly trembling fingers. He runs his fingertips along the edge of the fabric-like material, feeling the alien pull whenever he moves his mouth. It's a good thing he hardly ever smiles.

A bell chimes, signifying that someone has entered the tiny newsstand. Vicious' hand instantly moves to the grip of the tiny knife he keeps in his suit, but he sees in the reflection of Annie's shot glass that it is only Lin. He shakes his head until long silver hair covers the ridiculous thing on his cheek.

"How many did he kill?" he asks in his low gravelly voice.

"Two," replies Lin solemnly, "Stevenson and Camille."

Vicious thinks for a moment, but is unable to place faces with the names. For some reason, this bothers him. He places his hands in his coat pockets to hide the shaking. He hates close calls.

"Keller is injured. In the shoulder. He'll live," continues Lin.

"Who was the other man, with Sakame?"

"We're not sure. We're under suspicion that it was a bodyguard from the Lian Xui clan. But, that doesn't make any sense."

Vicious grunts. It doesn't make sense. Eliandro Sakame, aged twenty-nine. Several years ago he was a serial killer, dubbed by the media as the "White Flower" killer because his trademark was to leave a white flower by his victims. Vicious remembers that at the time, he had thought it tacky. He still does.

Sakame had been caught by the ISSP, eventually, but not before creating a substantial reputation for himself. People were beginning to think that maybe he was a myth. Maybe there was no real Sakame; only syndicates covering up for their many murders. Conspiracy theories are always popular.

Vicious knows the truth, though. He is a man. A real man. Vicious knows that his weapon of choice is a series of short throwing knives that are useful for hand to hand combat as well. Vicious also knows that Sakame will use anything available, so it's a bad idea to attack him in a warehouse or another place that has raw material around. He has been known to use an airborne poison, so Vicious knows to make his men wear masks.

Vicious thinks one time, he saw Sakame holding a black and white pistol, but he is not sure.

The Lapis clan and the Lian Xui were formed around the same time, and ever since a discussion on the possibility of an alliance ended in bloodshed, they have been enemies. According to some inside sources, the Lapis had found out that the leader of the Lian Xui had a teenaged son who was to be his father's successor. The Lapis attempted an assassination. The Lian Xui hired a bodyguard.

Vicious knows that Sakame is very smart. There is no question that he would have found out somehow.

The Lapis make a deal with an incarcerated serial killer: freedom for an assassination. Sakame denies the request, but then one week later changes his mind.

Vicious vows that he will find out why later, but for now he is content to ponder.

Sakame goes to work on his new job. The Lapis urge him to finish as soon as possible, but Sakame has been in prison for seven years and needs time to adjust to the world again. The bodyguard is no match for him, but Sakame enjoys playing.

After a short while, Sakame realizes that the Lapis intend to send him back to prison once the job is completed.

So Sakame abandons the job and starts murdering the members of the Lapis instead. The Lapis come crying to their buddies the Red Dragons, and Vicious is stuck with the job of killing a madman.

"Is that a band-aid?" asks Lin with a smirk.

Vicious growls and Lin grins before making a hasty retreat from the store. Annie comes back into the front part of the store holding a long wooden box. It is lacquered and stained, with gold ornamentation on the lid and two sturdy brass locks on one side. Annie carefully places it on the counter, and Vicious undoes the locks with surprisingly steady fingers. The sword inside is beautiful, as always. Vicious unsheathes the blade and gives it a few test swings before gracing Annie with a ferocious smile. He places it back in the box, gives Annie a curt nod, and leaves the store.

Vicious thinks that he has talked to Sakame, but then again, maybe not. He had gathered all the information he possibly could before going off to fight the White Flower killer, but he was still not prepared. Sometimes he feels that he isn't right to lead these men, and perhaps that is the reason his hands tremble, but these moments are fleeting. He knows he is good, and he knows he can beat Sakame.

It was just the two of them, surrounded by crates full of scrap metal and some lead pipes. Sakame was grinning like a maniac and spinning a wrench between his fingers. Vicious was favouring his right arm and scowling menacingly. He is sure that Sakame was injured too, but he didn't show any signs, so maybe he is not so sure.

"You're a lot of fun, you know that? You remind me of Aliciados. He was fun too."

Vicious ground his teeth and didn't say anything.

"What is your name?"

Again, Vicious was silent.

Sakame sighed laboriously and tossed the wrench into a crate over his shoulder. He ruffled his curly hair and said, "Well, if that's all, I'll just be going now."

"Why white flowers?"

Sakame stopped mid-turn and raised his eyebrows. Vicious was surprised by his own outburst. Now, it worries him that he had somehow lost control. "It's called being a proper gentleman, for your information," Sakame replies. He paused for a moment as he picked up the ridiculous top hat that had fallen off during the fight. "White is the colour of mourning. I find it only right to leave flowers by the dead, no matter how despicable they might be."

A bullet came whizzing by and grazed the assassin's ear. Sakame growled and whipped a glossy black and white pistol out of his coat, quickly placing a bullet through Richard Keller's shoulder and knocking him off the crane he'd been standing on. Vicious took this as an opportunity to attack. Sword met gun with a loud metallic clang.

"I didn't know you used a gun."

Sakame smiled. "It was a present, from a friend. He's watching and I figured it'd be a nice gesture to use it. My aim is still rather off, though."

Vicious' eyes darted around the warehouse. Standing several yards away on top of some plastic wrapped crates was a young man. He brushed the short brown hair out of his eyes and gave a small wave. Sakame smiled back.

"You look like you need some help," called the youth.

"No, thank you. I am alright Mr. Bodyguard. You might watch out, though."

The young man raised an eyebrow and jumped off the stack scant seconds before a bullet shot through the space he had been occupying. The young man whistled and grinned, before running off to find his attacker.

"You're chipping the paint," said Sakame with a frown.

Vicious looked down to where gun and sword met to see that indeed, some of the glossy finish was coming off the pistol. He quickly disengaged his blade and swung it at his opponent's legs, but Sakame back-flipped and landed a few feet away, dodging the attack entirely. They fought for a few more minutes, with Sakame putting away the gun and falling back on his more traditional arsenal of short knives.

Only when Vicious barely missed having his head cut off did he finally back away. He swiped at the blood running from the cut on his cheek, and gazed at Sakame with steady eyes. He felt a strange sensation: a crawling in his skin and a fluttery uneasy feeling in his stomach. It took him a bit to recognize it.

For the first time in a while Vicious felt scared.

It was an alien feeling. Strangely un-nerving, yet, almost enjoyable at the same time. A basic primal sort of thing that heightened his senses. He decided that it was okay for right then, but it wasn't something he'd like to experience again.

Now, walking down the dirty streets of Tharsis, he tries to ignore the fact that there has only been one other to make him feel that way.

Sakame sighed and looked at the top hat sitting a few feet away. It had once again gotten knocked off in the scuffle, and had a large slit in the brim. "Why do you wear that?" Vicious surprises himself (once again) by asking.

Sakame picked it up from the ground and dusted it off a little. "I suppose it _is_ rather impractical," he chuckled. "But, I am sentimental. My father used to wear one. He told me that a true gentleman always wears a top hat...I'm going to have to get this fixed."

He placed the hat delicately on his head. "It has been a most entertaining experience. You aren't from the Lapis, I know. You're Vicious yes? From the Red Dragons? I must say, you're much shorter than the rumors would have one believe. I have no quarrel with you, so I suggest that you start none...unless of course, you're simply looking for a sparring partner. You're a better fighter than my dear Mr. Bodyguard, who I'd say by now is beginning to struggle with your friend...one of the twins. So...I suppose he warrants a rescue, for all that he's done for me." As if on cue a gunshot sounded and a strangled yelp came from beyond the wall of crates.

Sakame smirked, bowed deeply, and jumped over the barricade.

Vicious did not follow. Now, he wonders if the meeting actually took place.

He is not sure why he let him get away. He is not sure why Sakame makes him feel so odd. He does not know why he lost his cool.

Vicious arrives at the Red Dragon headquarters and takes his turn before the Van to explain his failure. He gives no excuses. He does not say that the Lapis screwed Sakame over and deserve their punishment. He does not explain how Sakame won't kill anyone from another syndicate unless provoked. He accepts his criticism and the responsibility of two dead men. He accepts the warning that if he fails again, he will be dealt with severely.

He knows that he'll never defeat Eliandro Sakame.

He tells himself that it has nothing to do with the too-familiar smirk that stayed on the assassin's face throughout the fight. He tells himself it has nothing to do with the curly hair and square jaw. It has nothing to do with the quirky sense of humor and moral obligation.

Vicious' nimble fingers peel the band-aid off his cheek and toss it in a near-by trashcan. As he walks down the halls of headquarters looking for Lin, he ponders his next move.

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**eliandro's story:** his father was a diplomat from japan. his parents met in spain, where eliandro and his sister were raised. his fathers hands were not always clean however, and he was assassinated when eliandro was fifteen by a third party group; who hired them is still uncertain. they burned down eliandro's house, killing his parents and putting his sister into a coma; he was injured, but recovered, and was sent to boarding school. while there, he swears revenge on those that attacked his family. thus begins the killing spree. of course, the organization that was hired to kill his parents was top secret, so to mostly everyone, it just looked like he was killing random people - hence the serial killer charge.

he's caught while operating in germany. sent to jail. he's there for a while - it's not pleasant.

then, he's approached by the lapis clan, a german-based mafia with fingers in china and the united states, promising him freedom in return for an assassination.

but eliandro doesnt really like to kill innocents, so he says no. he's content to just stew in prison. a week later, the lapis fly him to new york, and then take him to a hospital. in this hospital is his sister, still in a coma. eliandro accepts the job. do the math. he figures, since he has to do it to save his sister anyways, he can continue his mission after this job is done.

the job is to kill a young college student, the son of a rival mafia leader, the french mafia lian xui to be exact (how international?). trick is, the boy's being protected by two lian xui bodyguards, and good ones. eliandro is better than the bodyguards by far, but it takes him a while to get used to being out of jail. after the bodyguards realize they cant beat him with brute strength, they do some research. they find out that the lapis are planning on sending eliandro back to jail no matter what happens.

the next time they meet, they inform eliandro of this. needless to say he is not pleased.

the story is actually about the student and one of the bodyguards...eliandro was an idea for a villain that got a little out of control.

(lol, dead.)


End file.
